Chiefs Must Bench Veteran After Another Costly Mistake vs. Texans
By Joe Summers
The Chiefs are putting the finishing touches on their team ahead of the playoffs and while they convincingly beat the Texans on Saturday, one veteran clearly needs to be benched.
WR Justin Watson has played 60% of the offensive snaps, the second-most of any receiver on the team. He's still playing ahead of DeAndre Hopkins, yet his repeated mistakes could cost Kansas City in the postseason. After dropping another deep TD, it's obvious that the seven-year vet needs to stick on the sidelines.
With just 19 catches on 27 targets for 224 yards and one score this season, Watson doesn't provide the value he once did. The Chiefs have better options available and need to take advantage of them.
Chiefs Must Bench WR Justin Watson After Costly Drop vs. Texans
Just some of the worst ball tracking and hands you will see at the NFL level from Justin Watson here.
— Pranav Sriraman (@PranavSriraman) December 22, 2024
Definitely what felt like Patrick Mahomes’ best deep ball in a little while. The placement was perfect. pic.twitter.com/54zMQaBxly
In all likelihood, the Chiefs won't play Watson much once the games actually matter. They're incentivized to keep DeAndre Hopkins' snap count below 60%, but that incentive goes away in the postseason.
Xavier Worthy enjoyed his finest game as a pro and appears to be enjoying a similar second-half breakout to Rashee Rice's last year. He's become Patrick Mahomes' top option, even ahead of Travis Kelce, with 11 targets in each of the last two weeks. Hollywood Brown looked comfortable in his season debut and JuJu Smith-Schuster is still around, so putting Watson on the field is becoming indefensible.
Why is nobody talking about Justin Watson moving and jumping BACKWARDS instead of coming back to the ball on a COMEBACK route?? The DB beat him to the spot that Mahomes anticipates.
— Jus Refs (@GlydeKingdom) December 26, 2023
This is lazy route running from a vet.#ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/tIsn8tWGf5
While Watson was one of Mahomes' most reliable options over the last two years, it seems that he's worn out his welcome. As a pending free agent, it'd be a surprise if the Chiefs re-signed him as anything other than a depth piece with a knack for special teams contributions.
Even though Watson hasn't been a valuable contributor, it's unlikely that Andy Reid and Matt Nagy are blind to the issues. Especially that Brown is back, expect the Chiefs to start phasing Watson out of the offense to get ready for the playoffs.
If Kansas City beats Pittsburgh on Christmas Day, they'll secure the No. 1 seed and can rest all of their starters in Week 18. During that potential two-week break, the offense will transition to featuring Worthy, Brown, and Kelce as the top options in the passing game.
Watson has been a solid player for the Chiefs and deserves to be remembered fondly. Even still, it's time to leave him on the bench in favor of better players.
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